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February 24, 2005
E-COMMERCE/MEDIA
Online Gambling Sites Get Creative
To Beat Advertising RestrictionsPromotional Campaigns
Include Playboy Models,
Free ‘Poker School’
By DAVID KESMODEL
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
February 24, 2005In the 1980s, Alex Czajkowski penned a weekly computer column for his college newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University dubbed “Beating the System.”
Today, that title neatly describes his job. As a marketing executive for an offshore Internet gambling company, he and his business rivals are drawing from an ever-expanding bag of tricks to promote online betting in the U.S. — where the casinos and the advertising of them are considered illegal by the government.
Shut out by most mainstream media outlets, Mr. Czajkowski’s company, Sportingbet PLC, which runs Sportsbook.com, has sponsored a top American bull rider, a professional women’s volleyball duo and an Arena Football League team. It has also placed full-page ads in two airline frequent-flier magazines, and its racy billboard-style ads featuring Playboy model Brooke Burke are displayed on the sides of trucks parked at National Football League games.
“Why can’t I advertise on ESPN? Sports Illustrated? Those are the [viewers] that care about my product,” said Mr. Czajkowski, marketing director for the Americas region for London-based Sportingbet, which is publicly traded in the United Kingdom and lets people bet on sporting events and play casino games.
With online gambling booming in popularity and poker, in particular, enjoying a newfound fan base, the companies behind Internet casinos have grown increasingly creative in their efforts to promote their products. Most print and broadcast outlets refuse to accept ads explicitly for Internet gambling, citing the government’s assertion that it is illegal for U.S. residents to gamble on offshore sites. But that view is based on a 40-year-old law that some legal experts say is vague and might not stand up to a court challenge, and the gambling sites argue that refusal to take their ads is a freedom of speech issue.
Please finish reading at the above URL. Very interesting.
